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SERMON 



DELIVERED, OCTOBER 19, 1862, 



AT THE 



FUNERAL OF GEORGE F. WHITING, 



Who died at Middletown, Maryland, Oct. 5, from a woond received 
at the Battle of South Mountain, Sept. 14, 1862. 



BY 

CALVIN S. LOCKE, 

UINLSTBB OF THE UNITARIAN SOCIETY IN WEST DEDHAM. 

$rtnteo for tfje jFamtljj. 



BOSTON: 

PRESS OF JOHN WILSON AND SON, 

5, Water Street. 

1862. 



Cjk IMrioik fflohmtm : 



SERMON 



DELIVERED, OCTOBER 19, 1862, 



AT THE 



FUNERAL OF GEORGE F. WHITING. 



"Who died at Middletown, Maryland, Oct. 5, from a wound received 
at the Battle of South Mountain, Sept. 14, 1862. 



BY 



CALVIN S. £OCKE, 

MINISTER OF THE UNITARIAN SOCIETY IN WEST DEDHAM. 



^rtrtteo for tfje Jamtlg. 



BOSTON: 

PRESS OF JOHN WILSON AND SON, 
5, Water Street. 

1862. 



Hi*** 



So uU 



» 






SERMON. 



2 Sam. i. 19: "The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high 
places: how are the mighty fallen !" 

IT is the claim of Christianity that it furnishes conso- 
lation for every variety of distress. If it cannot 
remove bodily pain, it stimulates us to bear it with forti- 
tude. If it cannot heal disease, it offers those subjects for 
meditation which will do much to relieve the tedium of 
sickness. If it cannot repair worldly losses, it instructs 
us to place such an estimate upon them as causes them 
to sink into comparative insignificance. If it cannot 
wholly remove the distress which comes from disappoint- 
ment and calamity, it teaches us how to make these 
experiences productive of valuable spiritual qualities. It 
teaches us — 

" To so forecast our years 
As from our loss a gain to snatch, 
And reach a hand through time to catch 
The far-off interest of tears." 

If it cannot at once bring back the friends who have been 
taken from us, it cheers us by the prospect of re-union ; 
and, when its assurances are received with fulness of 
faith, it renders us contented that those we love are taken 
from our poor protection, to the tuition and guardianship 



of those wiser, holier, and more loving, than ourselves. 
Let us seek, my friends, in these services, to apply the 
consolations of Christianity to our present requirements. 
Let us seek to hold them vividly before our minds, and 
apprehend their full significance. God grant that they 
may bring comfort to hearts weighed down with an unut- 
terable burden of sorrow ! God grant that they may 
cause us to repose with tranquillity in his providence, and 
to receive with resignation all the events of life ! 

The circumstances which call us together seem to me 
peculiarly sad. They are sad, first, because of the cha- 
racter of our young friend, for whom we are performing 
the last offices of affection. He was modest and retiring 
in his disposition ; and only those who had long been 
acquainted with him could appreciate the worth of his 
character. Probably, no one ever heard him utter a vul- 
gar or profane or angry word. Probably, no one ever 
felt a suspicion, that he would be unfair in his transac- 
tions. The air of honesty, integrity, and frankness, was 
as much the life of his soul as the atmosphere was the 
breath of his body. The families of his neighborhood will 
not soon forget his ready helpfulness ; and his filial defer- 
erence and cheerful household assistance will never pass 
from his mother's mind. He was a constant and attentive 
worshipper in the services of the Lord's Day, a valued 
member of the choir, a faithful and interested teacher in 
the Sunday school. He was gradually taking his proper 
social place where his good qualities would undoubtedly 
have been most salutary in their influence. Young men, 
how many of you, if called away at his age, can leave 
behind you a record so spotless and blameless as his? 
How many can be confident, that they have made their 
lives so valuable to themselves and others as he did by 
his diligent use of opportunities, his regular habits, and 



faithful improvement of his time ? He was one of those 
whom it is hard to spare from the community. There was 
such perfect certainty that his stand would always be on 
tin' side of justice and humanity, that he would be an 
enemy to whatever is corrupt and demoralizing, that he 
would be more and more the active promoter of good 
influences, that the loss is not a light one which his neigh- 
borhood, this religious society, and the town itself, are 
called upon to sustain. 

Again : this occasion is peculiarly mournful, because 
our friend was taken away in the freshness of manhood. 
A few weeks ago, he was among us, strong, vigorous, and 
hopeful ; looking forward, like others of his age, with 
bright anticipations, marking out his plans for the future, 
and active in the discharge of his daily duties. It seems 
as if his work in life had hardly begun ; that it was yet 
the early summer of his existence ; and that the more 
valuable and lasting fruits of his character were yet to 
ripen. When the aged veteran, at the close of a useful 
life, departs to his reward, we can hardly weep for him ; 

" Who, having won 
The bound of man's appointed years at last, 
Life's blessings all enjoyed, life's labors done, 
Serenely to his final rest hath passed; 
While the soft memory of his virtues yet 
Lingers, like twilight hues when the bright sun is set." 

But, when those whose work of usefulness is just begun 
are taken, our grief is most natural ; and it is then that the 
heart is most inclined to question the superintending Pro- 
vidence, which often permits corrupt and pernicious men 
to send forth malign influences for threescore years and ten, 
while the good, the brave, the generous, are taken ; which 
permits Pilate, Herod, and Caiaphas to live and rule, while 
Jesus, in the prime of manhood, suffers on the cross. 

1* 



Our grief is also aggravated by the circumstances of 
his decease. He was not taken from the world simply by 
sickness, which is the divinely appointed method of our 
departure ; but he fell, wounded by the enemies of his 
country, in the severe struggle by which their efforts at 
invasion were rendered futile. Although he had all the 
attention which the kind and diligent care of a faithful 
comrade could give, still the alleviation which comes from 
familiar scenes and faces, and the comforts which home 
affords, were missing. It is most touching to remember, 
that, while the tide of life was gradually ebbing away, 
he sang " Auld lang syne " and " Sweet home." What 
memories of early days, of old schoolmates, and custom- 
ary labors, and familiar scenes, must have been passing 
through his mind ! 

We lament the departed, on account of his character, 
which deserved our esteem ; on account of his youth, which 
wore the promise of a useful manhood ; on account of the 
circumstances of his death, which are to us of unusual 
painfullness, — though, alas ! they are now too common 
through the length and breadth of our land. 

But, severe as our calamity is, there are consolations 
which outweigh it. Nay, the very cause of our grief 
contains within itself a remedy for its cure. The charac- 
ter, which fitted him to discharge well his duties here, 
prepared him for the higher opportunities of another 
world. The great object of our existence here, as far as 
we are concerned personally, is to develop good, spiritual 
qualities. If our experiences have brought us to the pos- 
session of a Christ-like spirit ; if they have disciplined us 
to self-control, to patience, to a cheerful trust in God's 
providence ; if we have become thoroughly loyal to duty, 
and the good- will of the gospel has its reign in our hearts, 
— then this life has but little more for us. We have 



garnered its richest harvests, and are ready to enter into 
higher, celestial privileges. To what extent our friend 
had developed the qualities which belong to the Christian 
character, it would be presumptuous to pronounce. The 
religious affections often shrink from expression, and it 
was not his nature to thrust forward his merit ; yet, if 
his life is considered, we shall find it marked with those 
moral virtues which pertain to the kingdom of God. Let, 
then, the character which endeared him to us, and which 
makes our loss so heavy, be also our consolation. Let 
us have faith that this world had fulfilled its mission 
for him. Let us hear, in the event which has removed 
him, the voice of the Lord's invitation, saying, " Come 
up higher." 

There are causes for deeper grief than death occasions. 
When a child sinks into evil courses ; when he perverts 
to unworthy ends the powers given him ; when he be- 
comes degraded, vicious, sordid, sensual, a pest to society, 
— it is a fit occasion for the heartiest anguish. ' But 
when a brave spirit is promoted, and enters into the joy 
of his Lord ; when he who has ruled faithfully over a few 
things is made ruler over many things, — we may mourn 
for ourselves, but cannot mourn for him. He acted 
according to his sense of duty, which is nothing less than 
God's voice within the soul. He was imbued with a 
spirit of pure patriotism ; and he joined the army of his 
country, after having counted well the cost, and knowing 
well the hardships and dangers which he must encounter. 
Would not his fate have been worse, had he cowardly 
shrunk from what he deemed his duty ? Is not that soul 
nobler, and more to be honored, — is it not better off, — 
which exposes the body to danger in a worthy cause, than 
one which, for the sake of protecting for a brief period its 
perishable mortal tenement, disobeys the divine call ? 



Again : although the circumstances under which he 
passed away are distressing in their character, yet may 
not the cause in which he suffered do something to alle- 
viate our grief? When he fell on the field of battle, 
he was fighting, not to serve the ambitious purposes of 
any man, or class of men ; not with the selfish design 
of conquering a feeble people, in order to add new territory 
to our public domain ; but to preserve national institutions 
whose value is inestimable, — institutions formed by the 
wisest statesmen who were the heirs of the instruction 
gleaned from the governmental experiences of the human 
race for five thousand years, — institutions which have 
rendered our government, for almost a century, the mild- 
est and most beneficent on the face of the globe, — institu- 
tions which were purchased by the blood shed at Bunker 
Hill and Saratoga, by the privations of Valley Forge, by 
all the immense sacrifices of the Revolutionary patriots. 
Liberty, good order, obedience to law, a stable govern- 
ment, — blessings whose worth it is impossible to appre- 
ciate until they are taken from us, — are involved in the 
contest in which our friend was desirous of taking an 
active part. The well-being of future generations, the 
interests of humanity in all coming time, depend upon 
which way the contest is decided. Our departed friend 
entered the ranks, knowing well the points at issue ; and 
he was determined to do what was in his power to estab- 
lish a durable peace and a union between the several 
States which shall be as lasting as the continent itself. 
He fell, beneath the flag of his country, in the cause of 
civil order, humanity, freedom, and an improving condi- 
tion of the human race ; the same cause in which martyrs 
of all ages have suffered. It is by the voluntary sacri- 
fices of the good that the world is to be redeemed. It is 
by painstaking and effort, and the surrender of life, that 



the era of peace and good- will is to be inaugurated. All 
honor, then, to those who, from patriotic impulses and a 
conviction of duty, have gone forth in the cause of their 
native land ! If a heathen writer could say, that, for such 
a republic as was that of Rome, it is befitting and sweet 
to die, — it is much more so to give up life for a land 
which has been the refuge and hope of all nations ; in 
which, if right counsels prevail, posterity is to have such 
a glorious future as finds no parallel in the empires of 
past ages. 

Again : we derive consolation from the influences which 
our friend leaves behind, and which are intensified by the 
manner of his death. A good man may live fourscore 
years, perform well his part in society, and still produce 
no marked effect upon it. From year to year, his ener- 
gies fail ; and one source of enjoyment after another is cut 
off, until the inferior and worn-out body is willingly left 
by its immortal inhabitant. The sum total of the influen- 
ces exerted by such a life upon the character of neighbors, 
associates, and family, is by no means inconsiderable ; 
yet their effects are not very plainly traceable. He has 
fulfilled his work. Earth has nothing more for his recep- 
tive faculties or his active energies. But, when a young 
person of good character is removed while his energies are 
yet undiminished, his excellences stand out prominently 
before us. The very untimeliness of his decease and the 
worth of his character bring him often to our remem- 
brance ; and it is impossible for us to call these excellent 
traits to mind, without experiencing a desire to cultivate 
them within ourselves. Thus the death of one person, 
by reason of his spiritual qualities, may prove the life of 
many souls, — may stimulate them to excellence, and 
compel them to carry forward the work which he left 
unfinished. 



10 

The considerations which have been presented, it seems 
to me, should do something to render the stroke of 
bereavement less weighty. He Avas prepared, by his 
character, for death. He gave up his life in a good 
cause ; and his influences, emphasized by the mode of 
his decease, may accomplish even greater results than his 
exertions would have produced, had he lived. But these 
considerations belong rather to the province of reason 
than of religious faith. Let us rise to those of a higher 
nature. 

Let us not suppose, that this event happened apart from 
the Divine Will. Because our friend fell by a shot fired 
by the enemy, let us not suppose that human agency 
merely was concerned in his death. It is true that this 
event happened in strict accordance with physical laws. 
The projectile took the course determined by the weapon 
from which it issued. No special providence operated to 
guide, or to turn aside, the ball. Yet, while we recog- 
nize the uniform operation of natural laws, is there no 
room left for the workings of Divine Providence ? It 
would be presuming too much to say in what particular 
way the hand of God affected the event, — whether by 
influencing the assailant in the choice of his aim, or the 
wounded in the choice of his position, or in some other 
method equally hidden from our scrutiny : still it is plain, 
that a margin is left for the operation of the divine 
agency. We often make a double error by excluding 
human agency too much from being the occasion of those 
diseases which result in death, and by excluding the 
divine agency from those events which appear to us to 
depend principally upon the human will. If not a spar- 
row falls without our Father, if not a lily blooms apart 
from his agency, we may believe that no human soul 
leaves its earthly habitation except with his consent. In 



11 

the events of battle, as well as in the issues of sickness, 
we may trace his ruling hand, and feel that the Giver of 
life has simply taken what he himself bestowed. Chris- 
tianity does not pretend to solve for us all the mysteries 
of our existence. It does not explain to us the purpose of 
God in permitting the prevalence of such evils as war, or 
in allowing the generous and the brave to be taken in the 
midst of their usefulness. It does not solve the problem 
which the varied condition of the different members of the 
human family presents. It does not make every thing 
plain for our vision : but it gives us this one grand assu- 
rance, that God is over all ; that he regards each soul 
with parental tenderness, and will do for such as shall be 
for its highest good. Let not our minds, then, be need- 
lessly troubled by the mysteries of his providence ; but let 
our souls confide in his infinite love. Let us have faith 
that the Maker of all worlds has purposes, in respect to 
each individual soul, too large for our finite minds to 
comprehend ; and, though the agony of our grief should 
equal that of our Saviour when he wept and prayed in the 
garden, let his filial words also be ours, " Father, not my 
will, but thine, be done." Let us not harass our hearts 
with reflections as to what might have been : but let us 
cheerfully accept, with Christian submission, whatever 
happens, as in accordance with the divine appointment ; 
and strive, by means of every sorrow and every joy, to 
draw so near to God that the undisturbed tranquillity of 
heaven shall make its abode within our breasts. 

11 Up, up ! the day is breaking: 
Say to thy cares, 4 Good-night ! ' 
The troubles from thee shaking, 
Like dreams in day's fresh light. 
Thou wearest not the crown, 
Nor the best course canst tell. 
God sitteth on the throne: 
He doeth all things well. 



12 

Trust him to govern, then: 
No king can rule like him. 
How wilt thou wonder, when 
Thine ej'es no more are dim, 
To see those paths which vex thee, 
How wise they were, and meet ! 
The works which now perplex thee, 
How beautiful, complete ! 

Faithful the love thou sharest; 

All, all, is well with thee: 

The crown from hence thou bearest 

With shouts of victory. 

In thy right hand, to-morrow, 

Thy God shall place the palms : 

To Him who caused thy sorrow, 

How glad will be thy psalms ! " 



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